Machine for separating the coils of spiral springs.



No. mms3. Patenten Dec. 23. 1902. A F. n. nAmELs & c. s. MAR-SHALL MADHINE FUR SEPABATIN'G THE CDILS OFVSPIRAL SPRINGS.

(Application led May 13, 190:2.)

(No Model.)

f l H ggg l IIIIIINH llivirnn STATES ATENT OFFICE.

FRED n. oANmLs AND CLINTON sLMARsHnLL, or WORCESTER, MASSA- v i cHUsETTs.

MACHINE FOR SVEPARATING THE CILS OF SPlRAL SPRINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 716,683, dated December 23, 1902.

Application filed May i3, 1902.

To a/ZZ whom it rra/ty concern:

Beit known that We, FRED H. DANIELS and CLINTON S. MARSHALL, citizens of the United. States, residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsY in Machines for Separating the Coils of Spiral Springs; and We do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In an application filed February l0, 1902, Serial No. 93,446, we have illustrated, described, and claimed a method of manufacturing open coil-compression spiral springs where the wire or rod is first wound into a long coil with the helices or convolutions closed together, so that the coil has at this time no elasticity of compression whatever. A subsequent step in this method consists in separating or opening up the convolutions of these coils and allowing them to set and harden, and the present invention relates to this part of the process; and it consists in an im-Y proved machine for effecting this spreading or opening up of the coils, so as to convert them from close-wound coils having no elasticity of compression into open-wound springs adapted for any use for which compressionsprings are intended, but especially for car or vehicle springs.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, where the entire machine is shown in plan.. Y

Referring to the drawing, a denotes the bed-plate or table, upon which the operative parts are mounted. At one end of this bedf plate in suitable bearings b h is mounted a line-shaft c, from which the motion is taken to operate all these parts. This shaft may be driven by any-suitable means and has a peripherally-grooved cam d near one end, an eccentric surface-cam e and grooved camwheel c near the other end, and a wheelf, with a cam-groove in its side face, at an in# termediate point. From these three cams all the working parts of the 4machine are operated, as will now be described.

Mounted in suitable guides g g on the bed Serial No. 107,159. (No model.)`

of the machine is a plate 7i, carrying a head t. Through the center of the head extends a rod j, having a nut s at its outer end and pivotaliy connected at its opposite end to a link la, which in turn is pivot-ally connected to a crank-arm Z on a short shaft m, mounted in suitable bearings at one end of the bed of the machine and having a gear-wheel which it carries meshing with a rack o on a slide p. The slide has a roller q at its rear end running on the cam e of the shaft c, before described, and a side. roller running in the groove in the cam-wheel c. The link lc is adjustably connected to the crank-armi by means of Ya slot andset-screw connection, as shown inthe drawing, and reciprocates the head 'i to and fr0 as the line-shaft rotates.

The connection between the rod i and the head i is made so that the rod moves a limited distance independently of the head, this provision being obtained by mounting` the head loosely on the rod between an adjustable collar fr and the fixed nut s on the end of the rod. The object` of this independent movement of the rod is to enable it to work certain jaws before the head begins to move,as will now be described. These jaws are shown at t and u and are pivoted between their ends to the plate 72 carrying the head t. They are located on opposite sides of the head and are hook-shaped at their forward end to adapt them to grip the end convolutions of the coils.

The tail ends of the jaws are connected by short links c tv to the collar r on the rod, so that the rst eect of the movement of the rod is to open or close the jaws, according to the direction of the rods movement, after which the rod picks up the head i, and during the remaining movement of the rod in the same direction the head and jaws move together.

Immediatelyopposite and facing the head t there is secured in xed position onth'e bed of the machine a similar` head a.' and jaws b' o', which, like the jaws t u, are pivoted to this head at diametrically opposite points, as shown in the drawing. These jaws are opened and closed by means of a vibrating lever c', which is operated by the cam d on the shaft c, the front end of the vlever being connected to a block d', that slides on a rod e and is connected to the tails of the jaws b" by means of links f.

The construction being as thus described, the operation will now be explained. This form of machine is intended more especially for opening up coils that have but few convolutions and where only a small amount of stretching movement is required. The coils after their ends have been squared up, as described in our application above referred to, are placed one at a time between the heads a and t', the head t' being at this time Withdrawn, so as to open up the space between the heads, and the jaws being also open, as shown at the right of the drawing. The shaft c being then started, the head t' and its open jaws move toward the fixed head a until the coil is firmly grasped between them. The rod j then immediately starts back, and the jaws t u are closed upon the end convolution of the coil before the head begins to back off. When these jaws were being closed to grip the convolution at the end of the coil, the jaws b b were simultaneously closed upon the corresponding convolution at the opposite end of the coil, thereby firmly securing the coil to the head ct in fixed position. The rodj having moved sufiiciently for the collar to bring up against the head t', this head begins to back ed away from and in line with the fixed head,

' and the obvious result of this movement is to separate and open up the convolutions of the coils and to convert what was before a solid length of close-coiled wire or rod into an opencoil compression-spring.

It is of course necessary that the coil should be so stretched that the space between the convolutions will be uniform; but as `the stretching is done from the end convolutions and as only one-half of each of these convolutions is clamped by the jaws it is desirable to provide a spacing-tool g', that is adjustably secured to a slide 7i', having a roller at its end projecting into the cam-groove already described in the side face of the wheel f. The slide works in a stand t", which is adjustable on the bed of the machine by bolts and slotsj, and a set-screw 7c adjustably secures the tool to the slide. In case the coil should have a g'reater number of convolutions than shown in the drawing additional spacing-tools may be employed, and whether one or more are employed it comes into action when the coil has been stretched sufciently to bring it opposite the space between the convolutions that is not reached by the clamping-jaws, so as to open up this particular space to an equal extent with the others.

The heads are preferably made cylindrical; 6o but any other form may be resorted to, the only essential requirement being that their opposing faces should be hat to accommodate the flat ends of the coils.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim isl. In a machine for separating and opening up the coils of spiral springs, the combination of a head carrying jaws to grip one end of the coil, another head carrying jaws to grip the coil at the opposite end, and means for closing the jaws of both heads and then moving one head away from the other.

2. In a machine forseparatingand opening up the coils of spiral springs, the combination of a pair of heads carrying jaws to grip the end coils, means for moving one of the heads toward and from the other, means for opening the jaws before the movable head starts to approach the fixed head and for closing them before the reverse movement of the head begins.

3. In a machine for separating and opening up the coils of spiral springs, the combination of the sliding head t', the rod j passing loosely therethrough and having the collars r and s on opposite sides of the head, the jaws t, u pivoted to the collar r, and means for reciprocating the rod.

4. In a machine for separating and opening up the coils of spiral springs, the combination of a pair of heads carrying jaws to grip the end coils, means for separating the heads while the jaws hold the coils, and a spacingtool arranged to move transversely to the length of the coil between the intermediate convolutions.

In testimony whereof we aflx our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

FRED H. DANIELS. CLINTON S. MARSHALL. Witnesses:

W. E. SNYDER, JAMES W. SMITH. 

